| | Associated Press
|
Inside Track
|
|
HOW WALLACE WON
By holding off Jeff Burton over the final 10 laps, Wallace was able to be in the right place at the right time when his teammate, Jeremy Mayfield, cut a tire while leading the final lap. Neither Wallace or Burton had the car to overtake Mayfield, but Wallace's nifty driving while the pair battled for second turned out to be the winning moves. Wallace also learned from his mistake the last time he was at Pocono, choosing on the final pit stop to change just two tires instead of four. The quick two-tire change moved Wallace from fifth to second, in front of Burton, who entered the pits second behind Dale Jarrett.
POCONO PROBLEMS
If Dale Earnhardt fails to win an eighth Winston Cup, he may look at the 1,000 miles of racing at Pocono as his Waterloo. We all know what happened last month at Pocono on the final lap. Sunday, the Intimidator charged to the front and was running with the leaders when he cut a tire and shredded his right fender. Earnhardt limped home 25th, falling to third in points behind Jarrett.
WHAT'S THE POINT
It's official: The hunter is now the hunted. Bobby Labonte, who chased Jarrett in 1999, extended his lead by 18 points Sunday. But he now has the defending champion on his heels. DJ moved by Earnhardt, who's blown right front tire cost him dearly. Burton and Wallace both moved into the top-five with their 1-2 finish.
1. Bobby Labonte, 2,825
3. Dale Jarrett, 2,772
2. Dale Earnhardt, 2,718
4. Jeff Burton, 2,624
5. Rusty Wallace, 2,557
UP IN SMOKE
No less than eight cars experienced some sort of engine trouble before going behind the wall or to the back of the field. The first was Mark Martin, who suffered his third DNF of the year. Bill Elliott also ran with the leaders before his engine gave out. Pocono's long straights, which produce high rpms, combined with sudden shifting into tight corners, were to blame.
IRONMAN RIDES AGAIN
Terry Labonte kept his consecutive streak of Winston Cup starts alive by taking his 655th straight green flag. Labonte, who drove with a broken leg, was relieved by Rich Bickle after 24 laps. Bickle just missed a top-10 finish, bringing the No. 5 Chevy home in 11th place.
-- ESPN.com
|
LONG POND, Pa. -- Although Rusty Wallace felt bad for Jeremy
Mayfield, he was happy to be the recipient of a little luck when
his teammate lost the Pennsylvania 500 because of a blown tire on
the last lap.
"He wasn't caring about that teammate stuff and neither was I," Wallace said after his unexpected victory Sunday.
Wallace passed Mayfield and then held off Jeff Burton by two
car-lengths.
Mayfield, who won last month at Pocono International Raceway by
nudging Dale Earnhardt aside on the final lap, blew his right front
tire a little more than a mile from the end. That allowed Wallace
and Burton to get by, and Mayfield wound up 10th.
"I didn't see anything, but you know how it is," Mayfield
said. "Sometimes you just run over something.
"The last time I was here we had a spectacular finish on the
last lap, too, so I guess the track owed me one."
The victory was the fourth on the 2.5-mile triangular track for
Wallace, tying him with Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott and the late
Tim Richmond for the most on the mountaintop.
"He raced me hard and he raced me clean," Wallace said of
Burton.
Poised for what would have been his series-leading eighth pole
of the season, Wallace lost that two days earlier when Tony Stewart
set a track record with a qualifying lap at 172.391 mph. Wallace,
whose only previous victory this year came four months ago in
Bristol, Tenn., said he would rather win the race.
"Now, I won't have to hear people saying, `When are you going
to win again, Rusty?"' Wallace said.
Burton said he and Wallace let Mayfield get away at first by
racing each other hard, occasionally side by side. But Burton said
he had a faster car and had little choice. He knew he couldn't win
from the third spot.
"If I had been leading the race on the last lap then I would
have won, not Rusty," he said.
Wallace knew he couldn't let Burton get in front of him, but
realized they had to run nose to tail to draft closer to Mayfield.
"I was running too hard in the tunnel turn and finally had to
tell myself to calm down," Wallace said.
Then Burton began his move. Several times he got alongside
Wallace as the three Fords battled it out over the final laps.
"He really did a good job pinching me off," Burton said.
Wallace and the other leaders benefited from a bad decision by
Dale Jarrett's crew to take four tires during a late-race pit stop
under caution. The rest took two, and Jarrett lost track position
and fell from the lead to far back in the pack.
"I'm disappointed, I thought we had the car to beat," Jarrett
said. "But we took a chance there."
|  | | Rusty Wallace took an unexpected trip to Victory Lane on Sunday. |
Ironically, Wallace has complained that he and his crew have
made many bad decisions this season.
"You hate to give up track position," he said.
The win slowed the momentum of Stewart, who had won three of the
last six races. Stewart, cut down a tire and finished 26th.
Wallace led four times for 49 of 200 laps.
Third was Jeff Gordon in a Chevrolet.
"We had a strong car, but we lost fourth gear there at the
end," said Gordon, a three-time Pocono winner.
Gordon finished just ahead of Jarrett's Ford. Rookie points
leader Matt Kenseth was fifth in a Ford, followed by the Pontiac of
points leader Bobby Labonte, who heads Jarrett by 53 points.
Earnhardt blew a tire, finished 25th and fell to third in
standings, 107 points behind Labonte.
Ted Musgrave finished 16th in his first ride for Team SABCO,
whose driver, Kenny Irwin, was killed two weeks ago while
practicing at New Hampshire International Speedway for the New
England 300.
Wallace averaged 130.662 mph. The race was slowed seven times by
32 laps of caution. There were 25 lead changes among 10 drivers.
| |
ALSO SEE
Pennsylvania 500 results
Notebook: Mayfield mum about reaction to blown tire
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Rusty Wallace says his crew helped him get in front on Sunday.
wav: 259 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jeremy Mayfield says the track at Pocono got even.
wav: 193 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Rusty Wallace explains the last lap at Pocono on Sunday.
wav: 348 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jeremy Mayfield explains his final lap problems.
wav: 139 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
|
